Weblog of Jared Holloway

Religion & Politics

Does the religion and/or moral beliefs of political candidates matter?

Here in the United States we have what we call the “separation of Church and State.” Though excellent in concept, and mostly true, but when it comes to politics, it simply is not the case. In a wonderful election year, everything from a candidates religious preference to there beliefs on morality get strung out like a drug user. If you think that analogy is wrong, just think about it.

Everyone has some sort of belief in God – whether you believe God exists or not, there is some sort of belief. Everyone has some sense of what morality is, and for many, morality is relative. Though relative, we also have a sense of rule and law, and between our own personal conviction coupled together with law, we can piece together a simple structure of moral belief constricts the masses of people. The problem, however, is that not everyone shares everyone else opinion on what is moral and what is not.

As a Roman Catholic, I have what my religious structure says as well as what my social structure says – social being government/social norms. These two can be in harmony as well as conflict, and I, as an individual have to come to grips with this – both in my personal life as well as when I look at the current political scene in the United States. As a citizen of this country, i say to myself, “I should not have to settle against my own personal morality,” but the truth of the matter is, come November, if I am going to vote for the next President of the United States, I will have to. Why you ask, well its pretty simple:

If I support amnesty (or some sort of immigration control that protects those here versus only deportation) I have to vote for someone who supports abortion – and vice versa, if i want to support someone who is Pro-Preborn life, I will be forced to vote for someone who wants to build a wall as high as the throne room of God, or at least something close. If I want to support lower taxes, then I will have to support someone who will completely dismantle public health care. Likewise, if I support someone who wants to help the poor, more then likely they will raise taxes – and they are more often then not Pro-Choice, etc.

On top of all of this, the majority of the candidates running for the highest and most honorable office of the United States are politicians – or, as my Great-Granddaddy would say, liars. Corruption abounds in DC politics (not just there of course) and every candidate, save one or two, have been so obviously corrupted by it its borderline obscene. Trump and Clinton? They will say anything to get elected – Trump by saying what “everyone” wants to say but wont (we are either a bigoted and cowardly nation, or no one is really listening to what he is saying). Clinton – says she is for the poor to the poor, says she is for business to Wall St., flips-flops more then a grilled cheese on a griddle. Can’t remember when she was shot at (or that she wasn’t), thought it was okay to use her personal email for governmental work, and whose sole purpose it seems has been to separate herself from the coattails of her husband. Cruz, who everyone is in consensus is a liar. Sanders, whose whole political ideology runs in stark contrast of how America was built. The list can go on. I do not believe – minus maybe Trump – that any of the candidates are inherently evil, but they sure aren’t “moral” either – at least by my standards.Ironically, it is not because some are pro-choice or pro-life, or pro-immigration or anti-immigration, but because the system they have thrived in is immoral in its very nature. One cannot advance unless you are ruthless, and these people seem more ruthless then say, Frank Underwood. So ruthless it wouldn’t shock me if someone reported that someone’s death was suspicious and that someone had involvement with one of these people running for president. Seriously, I would not be shocked. In fact, I’d wager that a lot of people would not be shocked. Such is the state of this nation’s political battleground, such is the state of this nation’s morality.

I wrote all that to get to this – who should I vote for? My demographic is: conservative Roman Catholic, socially moderate, economically progressive… I guess i am screwed. I’m pro-life, but I don’t see abortion getting stopped or death sentences ending because A is president and not B. I don’t hate homosexuals, but I don’t agree with same-sex marriage 9though personally if the civil government wants to make it legally binding, to me that is it’s business), yet agan, no matter if A, B or the eventual C wins, I see nothing changing – for “better or worse” considering my personal moral belief. Same with immigration, smae with foreign war, same with -insert issue here-. Yes, some things will change if a Republican or a Democrat comes to office, but sadly it will still be more of the same. We can look at the promises of President George Bush, we got an “endless” war instead. We can look at the promises of President Obama, we are still at war and there hasn’t been much change. Its all more of the same, and to be honest, it really isn’t their fault as much as we would like to blame them 100%. The simple truth when it comes to American politics is that there really isn’t any truth. So, who do I or you vote for? Honestly, whoever you like best and whoever you truly think will be best for this country. They certainly will not be perfect, they certainly will not keep all or any of their promises, and they certainly will not make everyone happy. In the end, the religious beliefs, or lack there of, of any presidential candidate will simply not matter. Likewise, the political beliefs of the candidates will not matter as much as they would like you to think either. There is no good choice (though there may be plenty of bad ones), there are only the people we see in front of us as we go to the ballot.

As a final thought – from a religious perspective – I personally believe God can use whoever is in office to cause His will to be done. It doesn’t matter their personal beliefs or agenda. If God could part the Red Sea, He is also capable of speaking truth out of an ass. (Numbers 22:28)